West Coast Nut September 2019

A WORD FROM THE BOARD: THE AMERICAN PECAN COUNCIL
All photos courtesy of the American Pecan Council.
Taking Super-fy
to Superweeks
By ALEX OTT | Executive Director of the American Pecan Council
AS FALL APPROACHES,
pecans are typically top of mind,
particularly when it comes to pie
and the holiday season. However, as the
American Pecan Council works to raise
demand for pecans nationwide, we know
a critical piece of our efforts is finding
creative, engaging, and research-driven
ways to reach our target audience outside
of harvest and the holidays.
We have previously shared with you
our overarching campaign to harness
the year-round superfood power of
American Pecans. The Super-fy marketing
campaign leverages the idea that
pecans’ powerful nutrition makes them
the perfect addition to any snack or meal.
From January through March, Super-fy
drove interest and engagement with our
target audience, and was fueled by work
with blogger partners, media relations,
and social media.
While the Super-fy campaign concept
highlights the nutrition of pecans to
our target audience, we also wanted to
showcase pecans’ versatility. To take our
message a step further, we introduced
Superweeks in April. An evolution of
Super-fy, this campaign was a meal-planning
concept designed to show that
pecans are a versatile ingredient, perfect
for creating unique and delicious recipe
combinations. Pecans can be incorporated
into meals all week long and
are worthy of a spot on weekly family
shopping lists.
The Research Behind Superweeks
Before we launched Superweeks—or
embark on any marketing campaign—we
began with an understanding of our
audience’s motivations and tailoring a
program to appeal to their interests. So,
who is our target audience, and what do
they care about most?
While we want everyone to become
a pecan lover, we are focused on
Generation X and Y mothers, who hold
purchase-decision power for meals
and groceries in their households. Our
research uncovered that these mothers
are not only health conscious but are
the most likely to look for new ways to
incorporate nutrients into meals for their
families.
We combined this insight with our
goal of increased awareness. Because our
initial consumer research informed us
that many Americans think of pecans as
a baking ingredient, instead of a nut, our
programs continue to strive for greater
awareness of pecans’ versatility.
We also learned that two out of
three moms plan their weekly meals in
advance, especially those with young
children at home. In fact, according to
Mintel consumer research, the most
stressful time of the day for parents is
dinnertime—and 82 percent of working
moms try to combat this with advanced
meal planning.
All of these factors—purchasing power,
interest in trying new and healthy things,
and a tendency to pre-plan their ingredient
purchases—laid the foundation for
a campaign that showcases The Original
Supernut as a healthy, hardworking
ingredient. And what better time to
introduce the idea of cooking with
pecans than when our target audience is
planning their week? In order to prove
pecans deserve a spot in her regular rotation,
we needed to bring our audience
content in the context of her meal-planning
routine.
Developing our Themes
We knew we wanted to create a variety
of meal plans that appealed to all kinds of
needs and interests, while still keeping all
options family friendly and recipes easy
to understand. Each of the meal plan
themes had extensive research behind
them to ensure they fit a lifestyle interest
or dietary need of our target audience.
Consumer research helps guide this
process, and ensures that the content we
are creating is the best fit for who we are
trying to reach. For example, according
to Mintel consumer research, mothers in
Generation X and Y seek meals that may
accommodate certain dietary restrictions,
such as gluten intolerance. Therefore,
several of our meal plans feature a
variety of recipes that are all gluten free,
showcasing the pecan’s versatility as a
delicious option for all.
Research also showed that moms are
looking for options that will fuel their
families throughout the day, but we
know that many consumers just think
of pecans as a baking ingredient, not
superfood fuel. So, we created our energy-themed
plans, chock-full of on-the-go
options and quick dinners that fight
sugar slumps and afternoon grogginess.
And for the 53 percent of consumers that
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West Coast Nut September 2019